Theater News

Tim Rosser, Charlie Sohne, and More Receive Jonathan Larson Grants

The American Theatre Wing has announced 2015 grant recipients.

Songwriting team Tim Rosser and Charlie Sohne have been named recipients of the Jonathan Larson Grants.
Songwriting team Tim Rosser and Charlie Sohne have been named recipients of the Jonathan Larson Grants.

The American Theatre Wing has announced the recipients of the 2015 Jonathan Larson Grants. This year’s recipients were selected by a panel consisting of Amanda Green (Hands on a Hardbody), Steven Lutvak (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder), and Ted Chapin (president and executive director of Rodgers & Hammerstein). The prestigious grants total $30,000.

Honorees include writing team Tim Rosser (composer) and Charlie Sohne (lyricist) receiving $10,000, Sam Willmott (composer and lyricist) receiving $10,000 and a weeklong residency at the Running Deer Musical Theatre Lab, and Max Vernon (composer and lyricist) receiving $10,000.

The grants will be presented March 23 at a private event, featuring special performances of the recipients’ works, at the WNYC Greene Space.

Given annually to honor emerging composers, lyricists, and book writers, the Jonathan Larson Grants aim to continue composer Jonathan Larson’s dream of "infusing musical theater with a contemporary, joyful, urban vitality."

"The Jonathan Larson Grants give us the opportunity each year to support exciting new theater makers and invest in the changing landscape of the American musical, one writer at a time," said Heather Hitchens, president of the American Theatre Wing, in a statement.